Altika: A micro-satellite Ka-band altimetry mission

Jacques Verron (1) , P. Bahurel , E. Caubet (2) , B Chapron (3) , J.F. Crétaux (4) , Laurence Eymard (5) , Christian Leprovost (4) , P.Y. Le Traon (3) , Ludovic Phalippou (2) , Florence Rémy (4) , Eugénie Thouvenot (6) , Jean Tournadre (3) , P. Vincent (6)

1 LEGI - Laboratoire des Écoulements Géophysiques et Industriels [Grenoble]
2 Alcatel Space Industries Toulouse (FRANCE)
3 IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer
4 LEGOS - Laboratoire d'études en Géophysique et océanographie spatiales
5 CETP - Centre d'étude des environnements terrestre et planétaires
6 CNES - Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse]

Ka-band altimetry has been proposed by Verron et al. (2001) to complement the altimetry reference missions of the Jason class. The goal of this paper is to provide information on the so-called “AltiKa” proposal in terms of science requirements, responsive technical specifications, and a priori performances. Besides the fact that the feasibility of embarking an AltiKa payload on a microsatellite has already been assessed, there is also the information that a small launcher may have the capability of launching several microsatellites simultaneously (up to three) in a number of configurations that may be adapted to the space time requirements of high resolution altimetry.

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Jacques Verron, P. Bahurel, E. Caubet, B Chapron, J.F. Crétaux, et al.. Altika: A micro-satellite Ka-band altimetry mission. 52th International Astronautical Congress, Oct 2001, Toulouse, France. ⟨hal-00230209⟩